七手八腳

Chinese

	seven	hand; convenient; ‑er	eight	role; foot; base
trad. (七手八腳)	七	手	八	腳
simp. (七手八脚)	七	手	八	脚
alternative forms	七手八跤 Southern Min
Literally: “seven hands, eight feet”.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): qīshǒubājiǎo

(Zhuyin): ㄑㄧㄕㄡˇ ㄅㄚㄐㄧㄠˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): cat¹ sau² baat³ goek³
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): chhit-sú-pat-kiok
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): chhit-chhiú-poeh-kha / chhit-chhiú-peh-kha

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: qīshǒubājiǎo
  - Zhuyin: ㄑㄧㄕㄡˇ ㄅㄚㄐㄧㄠˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: cishǒubajiǎo
  - Wade–Giles: chʻi¹-shou³-pa¹-chiao³
  - Yale: chī-shǒu-bā-jyǎu
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chishooubajeau
  - Palladius: цишоубацзяо (cišoubaczjao)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰi⁵⁵ ʂoʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ pä⁵⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
- (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: qīshǒubājiǎor
  - Zhuyin: ㄑㄧㄕㄡˇ ㄅㄚㄐㄧㄠˇㄦ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: cishǒubajiǎor
  - Wade–Giles: chʻi¹-shou³-pa¹-chiao³-ʼrh
  - Yale: chī-shǒu-bā-jyǎur
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chishooubajeaul
  - Palladius: цишоубацзяор (cišoubaczjaor)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰi⁵⁵ ʂoʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ pä⁵⁵ t͡ɕi̯aʊ̯ɻʷ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: cat¹ sau² baat³ goek³
  - Yale: chāt sáu baat geuk
  - Cantonese Pinyin: tsat⁷ sau² baat⁸ goek⁸
  - Guangdong Romanization: ced¹ seo² bad³ gêg³
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɐt̚⁵ sɐu̯³⁵ paːt̚³ kœːk̚³/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: chhit-sú-pat-kiok
  - Hakka Romanization System: qid` su` bad` giog`
  - Hagfa Pinyim: qid⁵ su³ bad⁵ giog⁵
  - Sinological IPA: /t͡sʰit̚² su³¹ pat̚² ki̯ok̚²/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Taipei, Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chhit-chhiú-poeh-kha
  - Tâi-lô: tshit-tshiú-pueh-kha
  - Phofsit Daibuun: chitchiw'poehqaf
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sʰit̚⁵⁻²⁴ t͡sʰiu⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ pue(ʔ)⁵ kʰa³³/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Taipei): /t͡sʰit̚³²⁻⁴ t͡sʰiu⁵³⁻⁴⁴ pue(ʔ)³²⁻⁵³ kʰa⁴⁴/
- (Hokkien: Zhangzhou, Kaohsiung)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chhit-chhiú-peh-kha
  - Tâi-lô: tshit-tshiú-peh-kha
  - Phofsit Daibuun: chitchiw'pehqaf
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /t͡sʰit̚³²⁻⁵ t͡sʰiu⁵³⁻⁴⁴ pe(ʔ)³²⁻⁵³ kʰa⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡sʰit̚³²⁻⁴ t͡sʰiu⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ pe(ʔ)³²⁻⁴¹ kʰa⁴⁴/

Idiom

七手八腳

with many people lending a hand; chaotically

Derived terms

螃蟹過河——七手八腳／螃蟹过河——七手八脚 (pángxiè guò hé, qīshǒubājiǎo)

References

周长楫 [Zhou, Changji], editor (2006), “七…八…”, in 闽南方言大词典 MINNAN FANGYAN DA CIDIAN [Dictionary of Southern Min dialects] (overall work in Hokkien and Mandarin), Fuzhou: 福建人民出版社 [Fujian People's Publishing House], →ISBN, page 586.